Generation X: The Sound of Fate
by Mike N
Summary: The crazed mutant, Soundwave, has gone on a killing spree. His attention is quickly turned to Rich Cale and his family as he targets Rich's foster sister, Tasha Lewis.
1. Chapter 1

I.

The music. It's what kept him sane. It had a soothing effect as with a primitive animal, hypnotized by some harmonic force. He was the same way.

Thoughts engulfed him as they were the only company he could ever have. _My precious music, it's gone—Rich Cale, he took it away. It was his fault—that bastard. He was my best friend, yet, Rich betrayed me like I was a common criminal. The bonds of friendship are supposed to be stronger than that. Hell, Rich was supposed to die if I commanded it. Rich was weak, that's all there was to it. And weak people don't deserve to live._

The young man sat on the edge of his cot in the cell of McConnell Holding Facility outside of Easton, Rich's hometown. He had been put under lock and key with strict instructions almost two years ago. All the while, he thought about escaping and what he would do to Rich when he found him, and anyone else who might be around. There would be no mercy for them.

His name was Soundwave, and soon, sooner than even he imagined, he would have the chance to inflict his revenge against his enemy, Rich Cale.

II.

The McConnell Holding Facility was built in the late nineteenth century, and on the outside, looked the part. It was made of brick, such was true of many buildings in the city, and it was spread out. The multiple level building was set apart from the rest of the city, a smart move by the original city planner.

Though it could be mistaken for some sort of city government building on the outside, on the inside, it was distinctively a prison for humans and mutants alike. Every section that had mutants was specially designed by the best engineers in the world, including Forge, whose governmental affiliations allowed him to travel worldwide to put his talents to use.

The warden made sure that specific instructions were posted in each area, warning the guards and janitors what was and was not acceptable in the vicinity of a mutant. Many of them had powers that could be activated when a human was near, or even lash out and kill a human. The utmost of precaution was taken at all times and this pleased the mayor of Easton to no ends.

There were strict instructions given to the guards who worked in the section where Soundwave was being held. Absolutely no walkmans, Discmans, radios, or anything else that could remotely produce music, was the standing rule. And if one of those items did make it into the facility, which it was highly unlikely it would, it was not to be brought anywhere near cell U-SA-FA-CS-15.

The guards heard rumors of the prisoner there. They heard about the first attempt at a breakout he made…how ten guards were killed in a matter of seconds. Another eighteen were sent to the hospital under critical condition. It all happened because a street policeman brought a hooker in from the street and became nosy. He peered in, only to have his eyes gouged out and forcefully pulled into the small slot that was Soundwave's connection to the outside world.

When Rich Cale heard of the situation, he contacted Professor Xavier, who in turn contacted Forge, who built a new, special prison. Soundwave had remained there with no outside contact for the past year and a half. However, on this night, Soundwave would get everything he desired and some.

Hector Fernandez loved to sing. He sang whenever he could—it eased the tension of working in a prison. He was the janitor and had to mop hallways, clean the bathrooms, and other menial jobs that were unappealing to most people. It wasn't the greatest job, but it helped put food on the table. Working as a janitor was his second job. His first was at the newspaper shop. He made good money there, but sent much of it home for his sick mother.

When a whisper sounded in the hallway, Hector suddenly became nervous. He believed in ghosts without a doubt and always presumed the prison was haunted.

When Hector finally identified where the whisper had come from, it didn't make feel any easier—it came from a cell.

"Sing to me—sing louder."

Immediately, his eyes rested on the sign, "Silence" written in several different languages, including Spanish. Hector hesitated, but then realized how lonely it must be for a prisoner. He began to sing in Spanish, a wonderful song his father used to sing.

"Yes—come closer. I want to hear it all—"

Hector could see the prisoner almost smashing his head through the tray slot to hear Hector. That made him sing even louder. He was glad to be bringing some peace to this man's life.

"More—yes, more!" the voice of the prisoner became more excited.

Hector was thrilled. He sang louder and louder, rivaling those who sang opera for a living. He unwittingly came closer and closer to the door, not realizing the danger he was in.

The door suddenly blew off, knocking Hector to the floor and crashing into the opposite wall. The cell was broken…a cacophony of sound came flooding out of the walls and into the individual who now stood triumphant in the middle of the hallway.

A hateful eye turned toward Hector, and he shuffled back a few inches.

"I would like to thank you for giving me life. As payment, I'll make your death as painless as possible—"

III.

Rich smiled as he felt a kiss on his forehead. He opened one eye and a cute redhead came into view. She looked something like the woman he loved, with a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt. When his eyes focused, he saw that it was true…his love was standing next to the bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Yvette whispered. The sun poured into the room, giving it a warm, homely feeling.

Rich propped himself up on one elbow. "Good morning to you too."

She reached over and brushed some strands of dark brown hair from his face. "Kai told me to get you up…she has breakfast on the table," Yvette grabbed his hand and started to playfully tug him out of bed.

"I don't want to get up," Rich smiled and pulled Yvette into the bed. He began to tickle her.

"Oh stop!" Yvette laughed. They tussled around for a minute before he let her up. Yvette still held on to the laughter. "If you don't get up, I'll call in reinforcements…Grimore."

"Okay, okay. Grimore has a tendency to use too much force to get his way." Rich shuddered, remembering when Grimore bit his arm to get Rich to let him outside. "Tell Kai I'll be down in a minute."

Yvette blew him a kiss and trotted out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Rich was glad to be back. It had been a week since Rich, accompanied by Yvette, had returned to his rightful place in the town of Easton. Rich was glad for the friends he had made in Generation X, but he had a responsibility to take care of: a company, a castle, and his family. However, Rich found his thoughts daunting back to the residents of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.

He had come there strictly for business…to stop the menace known as Emplate. However, there was much more to the situation than he realized and through a twist of events, he ended up residing with them. In that time, he found himself opening up to each of them more and more. When he left, he felt like he was leaving behind some of the best people he had known.

Rich was startled out of his thoughts by a sudden shift in the bed. Grimore and leaped from the floor to the bed, a usual act for the feline.

"Morning, Grimore."

"Rich, how are you doing this morning?"

Rich sighed. "It's good to be back," he replied, reflecting on the week. "It seems like I had been gone for so long."

"Well, you did extend your visit to the States by quite a few months."

Rich smiled. "Yeah, lucky for me, summer break came. I think everyone needed the vacation. It let me get back here to take care of the company for a while."

Grimore suddenly changed his expression. "Things are going to be busy for you," Grimore said in a low tone.

Rich stretched then gazed at the animal. "That doesn't sound good."

"It won't be," Grimore said and leaped gracefully from the bed to the floor.

Rich frowned and swung his legs out of the bed. He wanted to dismiss the ominous statement from his feline friend, but at the same time, he knew there was always truth to what Grimore said. He looked at the cat one last time. "Well, I'm going to get breakfast. Are you coming?"

"Of course—do I ever miss a meal?"

Rich smiled, pushing the ominous comment to the back of his mind. He didn't want to inquire anymore into the comment fearing that the news may be more than he could handle right now.

Rich and Grimore descended the stairs in a lively manner and entered the dining room. A single voice became more and clearer as he neared the table.

"So I was almost overrun by these zombie creatures," Yvette had the other three girls at the table captivated as she spoke. Her blue eyes sparkled as she told the story, which brought a smile to Rich. She caught sight of Rich and smiled as she continued to talk.

"Morning, every…"

"Shhh!" Tasha shot a silencing glance at Rich. Her large brown eyes turned back toward Yvette.

Yvette paused for a moment to giggle.

"So what happened?" Godiva insisted. Her dark brown hair fell over her eye and she pushed it behind her ear.

Yvette smiled. "Well, Rich appeared from nowhere—"

"It wasn't exactly nowhere. We were already there."

"Oh quiet, Rich. Let her tell the story," Godiva snapped. Rich chuckled and shook his head. He was happy to see Yvette fitting in well with the family. One of the things he was concerned about when he first brought her back was whether she would be accepted by his adopted sister, cousin, and her friend.

"Can't get a word in edgewise, huh?" Grimore chuckled.

"I might as well listen…I hope this story has a happy ending," Rich winked at Yvette who caught his subtle joke.

"So he was standing there, like a knight in shining armor—"

IV.

It was simple to waltz out of the prison. It was late at night, so there was minimal manning and the guards were busy nodding off. Killing those guards was simple with the energy he had stored up over the years. Even though there was supposed to be no sound in his area, he was able to absorb even the smallest of sounds. When Forge built the prison, he didn't realize that the walls absorbing the sound actually created sound, from the wave hitting the wall before it was absorbed. So in a sense, he was indirectly absorbing sound.

He had to be careful not to let it escape though. He continued to hold it inside until the janitor came along, who took him over his threshold of power absorption.

Soundwave now stood inside of the department store. All he needed was a Discman and a few CD's.

"Excuse me, sir?" a sales assistant stood within a few feet of him. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Soundwave turned his head slowly toward the woman, with a look of hatred in his eyes. He didn't know why, but he wanted to hurt this woman. She couldn't have been more than twenty, with fair skin and dark blue eyes. She was thin, too thin for his tastes, but dressed nicely just the same. There was something about her…maybe it was her light, high-pitched voice that set him off, but regardless of the reason, he wanted her dead.

"I need a Discman and I need these CD's," he brought them to her face slowly, until they were a few inches from her face.

She stepped back, suddenly weary of the strange man that stood before her.

Lisa caught herself though as and regained her composure. She had seen strange customers before, and this man was no different. Then she thought about it…there was something different about him. It was strange, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn't place him. She dismissed that though, she didn't even drive through any rough parts of the outskirts of the city, and she didn't keep company with strange looking people.

Lisa decided that she was being overly paranoid and proceeded to help by saying, "Well, the Discmans are over in the other aisle. I can show you where they are—"

He grinned sadistically. "That would be nice…" he looked at her nametag, "Lisa."

About two minutes later, Soundwave walked out of the dead end aisle, where every radio was blaring loudly. The broken body of Lisa lay crumpled on the floor, clearly lifeless.

"What the hell is all that noise?" Caleb asked.

"It's coming from the stereo section—probably some damn kids playing around," the older man, Harold cursed. He put down the notebook he had and stormed around the corner. He immediately saw Soundwave standing there bobbing his head.

"Are you the one responsible for all this?" Harold glared at the man, but then shifted his eyes behind him. His face paled and his eyes grew wide at the horrible sight of Lisa's mangled body. He glanced back toward Soundwave, with a horrified look. He began to turn to run, but Soundwave grabbed him roughly by the throat.

A woman saw the scene and screamed. Soundwave let pure energy fly from his hand and it hit the woman directly in the midsection, killing her instantly. More screams rang out and people began to scramble for the doors.

"I love it!" Soundwave said to the man he held as he threw him down the aisle. He flew through the air and splattered into the wall.

Soundwave then extended his hands in all directions and let sound waves reverberate from his hands. He was able to identify the natural frequency of the building and let the waves strike the walls until they began to crumble.

The customers were not fast enough to make it to the door as the building crumbled on top of them.

After only a few seconds, Soundwave stood in the middle of a pile of rubble, the only survivor of his attack.

He began to laugh, feeling the excitement of killing building up.


	2. Chapter 2

I.

"Does it feel good to be back, Rich?" Yvette turned from her spot on the couch to face Rich. He stopped typing at the computer for a moment to ponder the question.

When he first arrived in Snow Valley, he wanted nothing more than to complete his job and get back to England. But in the end, he discovered a home with the teens of Generation X—a family. Though he felt guilty about leaving his cousin and sister in England, he felt right with this place in Xavier's.

"Yeah," he sighed. "But I already miss the rest."

Though Rich was a member of Generation X for a few months, he had grown close to most of the members. They had become an extended part of his family and he was grateful for the time he had spent with them.

Yvette understood Rich's feelings. She had been with them since they had first come together as a team. They were the first people that she knew as family—people who gave her a sense of being and love, as opposed to the pain and suffering she had endured from Emplate for years.

"Next semester will be starting before you know it," Yvette replied.

Rich smiled. "Of course. Maybe we'll be able to bring everyone out here to England sometime."

Yvette smiled, "That's a good idea. I think they'd like that."

Tasha Lewis dashed down the stairs two at a time. "Hey, Kai, I'm going to the library!" she called as she grabbed her Nike backpack. She was dressed in dark blue jeans and a white sweater.

"Don't sit there and read too much and miss dinner. I'm making spaghetti tonight."

Tasha shot Kai a smile. "Yes, mother!" she replied, dripping with sarcasm. "Bye, Rich. I'll see you later, Yvette!" She bounded out of the door before Kai could respond.

Kai smiled to herself and shook her head.

Yvette turned back to Rich. "So Tasha is your sister?"

Rich smiled again. "I'm sure the looks threw you off," Rich said, referring to Tasha's caramel skin in contrast to his own fair complexion. "She's my foster sister. My parents adopted her when I was about ten. She's two years younger than me."

"Did something happen with her parents?"

Rich shook his head. "My parents never talked about it—neither did Tasha."

Yvette suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the girl. She knew the feeling of losing her parents at a young age, but maybe the circumstances were different.

"She's such a great girl though. I've always treated her like my sister, and my parents treated her like she was their biological daughter."

"That's good then. Having a loving home must have been good for her."

Rich nodded. "Her powers were already developed when my parents adopted her though, which makes me think something happened with her powers."

Yvette nodded, thinking back to Clarice and the situation with her family. In her case, she lost her family forever because of her powers.

"What about Godiva and Kai?"

"They moved in after my parents' death. I inherited the castle, land, fortune, and title of Lord, but I couldn't do all this alone. My cousin Godiva is a big help. Godiva and I have been friends with Kai for a long time, so I didn't mind when she wanted to move in as well. Both of them help me out in business affairs as well as keep me company."

"We keep you in check, Rich!" Kai called from the kitchen.

Rich smiled again. "It's the truth. Anyways, they're mutants too. Godiva can psionically control her hair, growing it and shortening it according to the occasion. Kai can mentally control the emotions of others. Specifically, she can break down the natural inhibitors of a person and reveal their inner-most thoughts and desires. Trust me—she's quite popular at parties."

"What are you saying about me in there, Rich?"

"Nothing," Rich innocently replied over Yvette's giggles. "Tasha is a psi—something like Mike. As far as I know, she can read minds, project her thoughts, and a few other mind boggling tricks."

"Well, it sounds like you have a full house here."

"There's always room for one more," Rich said, looking directly at Yvette.

She blushed and smiled shyly, glad that she would be spending time with the first man she loved.

II.

Soundwave walked along the street, with the Discman blaring in his ears. His head bobbed unconsciously to the music that sounded in his ears. A newspaper caught his eye, and he turned to look at the front cover.

_Rich Cale returns from America with his family_.

"Rich—Cale—" Soundwave mumbled. He looked at a picture below the article and saw a young black girl, a girl who had similar features to Rich, probably Godiva, an Asian girl with a pretty face, and Rich.

His jaws clenched as he looked at Rich and remembered his treachery. The only thing on his mind was getting revenge on the one person he once trusted.

He looked up and saw a young girl walking down the street, the same young girl from the picture. He would get Rich, and he knew exactly where to start—his family.

He looked up to see a young girl walking down the sidewalk, bright and cheery. Just that alone made him want to do something evil to her. But when he looked at her face, he glanced back at the paper.

"Well, isn't this something," he recognized the girl as Tasha Lewis, Rich's foster sister, also pictured on the newspaper.

Soundwave threw his cigarette to the street and began to stalk his prey.

III.

"Hi, Mr. Cooper!" Tasha waved and flashed the older man a smile.

He gave a warm, friendly smile. "It's always nice to see you. How are you today?"

"I'm doing great. Gotta do some reading though!" Tasha disappeared around the bookcases and went to her favorite spot on the fourth floor, stopping at the other floors to grab a book. She settled down at what she deemed as her table, a hardwood, dark table, and began to read.

Tasha looked up from the book and glanced at her watch. "Oh no. I'm going to be late!" she said she closed the book and glanced around. There was no sound to indicate another presence in the building. She was on the fourth floor of the library so it seemed that she was light years away from the door.

It wasn't like Tasha to be afraid of being alone—she actually relished the time and took time out to spend alone.

She cradled the three psychology books in her arm as she threw her backpack over her shoulder. She patted the front pocket of her jeans for her library card and realized she had forgotten it. Tasha figured she came to the library enough for the librarian, Mr. Cooper, to let her go this time.

Reading was something Tasha loved to do, ever since she was young. She read both fiction and non-fiction frequently. She loved being immersed in the fanciful world of fiction, and learning about the real world through non-fiction.

She descended the marble spiral staircase quickly and quietly. Once on the bottom floor, Tasha headed straight for the check out desk. Cutting though floor to ceiling bookcases, she came out only to see no one there.

She quickly glanced at the small gold watch on her thin wrist. 'It's only six thirty…someone should be here,' Tasha told herself. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late. She walked up to the desk and set the three large books down. Leaning over the desk, she looked for some sign of the librarian being there, but there was none.

"Mr. Cooper!" Tasha called. There was no answer.

Something wasn't right. Tasha's natural intuition was screaming, but she couldn't pinpoint why. There was nothing dangerous about the library, but it was suddenly different. The silence was deafening, next to the sudden beating of her own heart.

"Mr. Cooper?" she called again quietly.

It was instinctive for her to start walking more cautiously, looking around corners suspiciously, and listening for any sign indicative of danger. She could have easily dashed out of the library without thinking twice about the old man, but she was better than that. He could have had a heart attack, or maybe he fell and couldn't get up…Tasha had to find out.

She rounded the corner to his office, thinking that if he wasn't anywhere else, he would be there. The office was all the way in the back of a hallway that extended off of the front desk. It was dark, and she couldn't find the light switch.

"Mr. Cooper? Are you there?" Tasha suddenly thought that the old man may be in the bathroom, when the door opened due to her knock.

"Mr. Cooper?" Tasha whispered as she saw the man sitting at the desk, facing away.

A wave of nervousness suddenly washed over her. She felt like she was the character in a horror movie that was happening upon a horrific scene. Still, she played the role.

She crept slowly toward the chair and touched the man's shoulder. "Mr. Cooper?" she whispered for the last time. The chair spun, seemingly on its own, to leave a pair of lifeless eyes staring back at her.

Tasha wasn't easily scared, but a scream ripped from her throat before she could even catch herself. Her heart was pounding out of her chest, as she realized something was horribly wrong.

She dashed out of the room immediately, stumbling down the hallway momentarily before regaining her footing. She ran toward the front doors, but when she slammed against them, she found they were locked.

She glanced to the right and grabbed a chair. The nine doors that made up the front were made of glass, so she could easily escape. The police would understand. She threw the chair, but it bounced off of the glass and hit the ground.

Tasha thought she was hallucinating, until she remembered that the glass had been recently replaced due to the high winds shattering the glass. A new type of unbreakable glass replaced the old.

Tasha was trapped. She wasn't aware of another way out, but when the man appeared about twenty feet from her, she knew she had to figure something out.

"Who are you?"

He didn't answer, but slowly advanced toward her. Tasha heard the faint sound of music coming from somewhere. When the boy came into the light, she realized that she was in horrible danger.

"Oh my God—" Tasha backed against the door.

She looked over the man that shambled toward her. His head was low, bobbing to the music she heard earlier. He had on a set of headphones that looked attached to his head. His hard face was pale and scruffy, long and thin. His hair almost covered his eyes as it bobbed from side to side in time with the music.

Soundwave came within inches of Tasha's face, pressing her farther against the glass. He gently touched her chin, which made her skin crawl.

"Tasha Lewis—Rich Cale's right hand man—or should I say woman?" he pressed his face into the nape of her neck and sniffed loudly.

"You smell so good—"

"What do you want? How did you get out of jail?" she tried to sound strong, but her voice faltered several times, giving away her fear of this madman.

"You're in no position to be asking questions, Tasha." His low voice was almost hypnotizing as Tasha shrank back against his touch.

"Sweet Tasha—you're so soft—" he seemed mesmerized.

Tasha took this chance to try to get away. She kneed him in the softest area on his body, pushed him back, and landed at roundhouse to the side of his head. Soundwave stumbled forward, only to be met with a quick elbow to the jaw and a spin kick to the midsection. She ended by grabbing his stringy brown hair and pulling him down to meet her knee.

She ran as Soundwave fell to the ground. Tasha dashed into the maze of bookcases to try to hide herself.

Soundwave let a scream rip from his throat as he got to his hands and knees. "You bitch—I'll get you! You can't hide from me! I'll kill you!"  
Tasha kept running, and then bounded up the stairs back to the fourth floor. She went to the very back and hid behind a bookcase there. She figured it would be several hours before he found her, but how would she get away then?

Soundwave recovered quickly then adjusted his walkman. A song with a fast beat and heavy on the electric guitar suddenly began to blast. He rose to his feet, like a marionette brought to life. He began to laugh as his eyes grew wild.

He sped through the bookcases as if he had traveled through them a thousand times and sped up the stairs. Tasha heard the sound of music approaching but she knew it was too late when she felt a hand roughly grab her arm.

She was snatched from her hiding place and thrown across the room into a bookcase. Tasha crumpled to the ground, surprised by his strength. She tried to rise to her feet, but he was upon her before she could recover. He picked her up by her shoulders and slammed her into the bookcase several times.

Tasha's vision blurred and she thought she was going to pass out. Soundwave saw the cloudiness come over her eyes.

"Not yet, sweetness. I have much more in store for you!" He threw her to the side and she bounced off the ground. He was instantly upon her and dropped a knee into her stomach.

Tasha screamed.

"Oh, you're going to give me more of that," he said as he began to laugh manically.

IV.

Detective Randall Harris hated the night shift. It was when all the strange and untold secrets of the night came out. The most tragic and horrendous crimes seemed to always occur or be found at night. He scratched his head as he looked at the mangled body in front of him.

In the background, he could still hear the forensics technician vomiting and other hushed conversation going on.

"Who was he?" Harris's mellow voice was almost startling to the woman officer standing next to him. He was a muscular man, and she expected him to have a much gruffer voice than he did.

She flipped through her notebook quickly. "His name was," she paused while she read a few lines, "Hector Fernandez. He was a custodian for the facility."

"Police record?"

"None. From what we've gathered from the tapes, he was simply cleaning, but began to sing. The prisoner somehow broke out of the cell, then…" she trailed off, letting her gaze fall on the body.

"There was a tape?"

"Yes, but it was distorted. We assumed that the attacking individual was the prisoner, which was a viable assumption, given the circumstances."

Harris remembered that particular problem with Soundwave. Because he could control actual sound waves, he could interfere with electronic waves, which continually distorts his image on camera.

"Poor soul," Harris shook his head.

"Shouldn't you call Mr. Cale about this?" the officer suggested. She then realized her mistake from the expression Harris gave.

Harris grunted then stated, "I don't need a vigilante getting involved in this case. There's going to be enough attention without reporters getting a whiff that this could be related to Cale."

The female officer sighed. "I know that the two of you have differences, but if this prisoner is who everyone says he is then Mr. Cale is going to be the first person he's after."

Harris knew that Jones, the female officer, was right. "Give me a phone," Harris gruffly said.


End file.
